Frequently Asked Questions

Leadership Initiatives

For more than 20 years, Leadership Initiatives has partnered with outstanding high school students to gain real-world experience, explore future careers, and develop critical skills to create the next generation of leaders worldwide. As a nonprofit organization, we are proud to offer real internships that impact the lives of students and the individuals they are partnered with.  

Leadership Initiatives offers the leading experiential education programs for high school students with endorsements from the Microsoft Youthspark Program, the Starbucks Foundation, the International Youth Foundation, GlobalGiving, Testive, and the Future First Foundation.

Join us today and start an internship with a business in the developing world, work with an attorney on an impending court case of national importance, develop anti-terrorism security strategies or partner with a doctor to diagnose patients in sub-Saharan Africa.

Enrollment

Leadership Initiatives has created seven first-of-their-kind programs for high school students who want to develop their leadership skills, gain real-world job experience, and change lives around the world.

The Advanced Law & Trial Internship Tier I and Tier II partners students with a D.C. law firm for an accelerated law internship to work on real court cases of national importance.

The Advanced Medical & Public Health Internship and the Advanced Medical Neuroscience Internship allows students to work with real patients and receive medical training from medical experts and Howard University.

The International Leadership & Business Internship partners students with real businesses in the developing world to develop critical and targeted business skills and experience.

The National Security & Intelligence Internship partners students with a real security firm in West Africa to create security solutions with former FBI and Military leaders for Yobe State University which has been attacked by the Boka Haram, an international terrorist group, several times since 2015.

We care a great deal about our students and their success. In addition to encountering some of the most memorable and unprecedented experiences, we also prepare students for college and professional life like no other program out there through our exclusive benefits:

    • One-on-one mentor time from Leadership Initiatives mentorship pool

    • 5:1 student-staff ratio

    • Leading experts from top companies, law firms, hospitals, and universities

    • Free ACT/SAT training from Testive

    • Scholarship search assistance

    • Unlimited college application essays – reviewed and edited

    • 3 scholarship application essays – reviewed and edited

    • Choose your own adventure tours of embassies, businesses, medical institutes, and legal sites

    • Admissions counseling from Ivy League admissions experts

Nominations for each program can be submitted through our nomination page. We examine all nominations on a case by case basis. Students are allowed to self-nominate but we will need an official recommendation from a teacher, school official, or principal before you can be admitted to the program. If you are selected, you will be notified accordingly.

You can sign up for our summer Youth Development Programs on our Enrollment Page.

After you have completed the enrollment process and made the initial deposit for the program, you will receive an email containing a confirmation of your enrollment, materials needed to attend the program, and more information about the program you enrolled in. If you enrolled using a payment plan, more information about the payments will be included in the email. If you did not receive a confirmation email or received one in error, please contact registration@lichange.org and the issue will be promptly resolved.

If your first choice for a program date is full, please email registration@lichange.org and let them know that you would like to be placed on the waiting list. All students on the waiting list will be contacted on a first come first serve basis when and if space becomes available.

Leadership Initiatives operates on rolling admissions. We continue to evaluate applications as long as space is available. Because many of our sessions fill by the middle of February, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible to ensure your first choice of program and session.

If you would like to attend but do not think you will be able to meet the deadline for registration, please contact us at registration@lichange.org and we can review additional programming options. 

The following cancellation fees apply once the student has enrolled in our summer programs.

Cancellation PeriodTotal Cancellation Fee
Enrolled For Less Than 72 HoursProgram Deposit
Enrolled for Less than 2 Weeks$200
Enrolled For More Than Two Weeks$500
Enrolled For More Than Four WeeksEntire Tuition

* If any college application benefits are used (Testive ACT/SAT prep, college essay assistance, college admissions assistance, mentoring program) participants are subject to a $500 cancellation fee.

Leadership Initiatives strives to make our programs accessible for all students. Our flexible cancellation policy allows students to cancel program attendance for any reason with a notice of 20 days before their selected program begins. Students that need to cancel their attendance for a program will receive credit for the amount they paid which can be used to attend another program during the summer of 2024. Students can also choose to defer their attendance until the following year.

Tuition, Payment Plans and Benefits

2024 In-Person ProgramDatesPrice
Criminal Law & Trial InternshipJuly 7th - July 13th, 2024
July 14th - July 20th, 2024
$3500
Advanced Law & Justice Reform InternshipJuly 21st - July 27th, 2024$3800
The Advanced Medical & Public Health InternshipJuly 7th - July 13th, 2024
July 14th - July 20th, 2024
July 21st - July 27th, 2024
July 28th - Aug 3rd, 2024
$3500
The Advanced Medical Neuroscience InternshipJuly 14th - July 20th, 2024
July 14th - July 20th, 2024
$4000
The International Leadership & Business Internship July 7th - July 13th, 2024
July 21st - July 27th, 2024
July 28th - Aug 3rd, 2024
$3500
National Security & Intelligence InternshipJuly 14th - July 28th, 2024$3500
Cybersecurity & Intelligence Internship
July 21st - July 27th, 2024
$3500
Jumpstart ProgramJuly 28th - August 3rd, 2024$3500

Tuition for our program is all-inclusive. 

During the program tuition includes:

Faculty and Staff (5:1 Student to Staff Ratio) Included
Curriculum and Materials  Included
College Admissions Counseling Sessions Included
Lectures, Mentor Sessions, and Workshops Included
Academic Benefits (SAT/ACT Training, College Assistance) Included
Student Websites Included

Leadership Initiatives offers a variety of flexible options to pay for program tuition. These payment options range from paying in full at the time of enrollment to a twelve-month, zero-interest payment plan. Below are all payment options.

Pay in full: Program participants can opt to pay 100% of the tuition cost in one single payment at the time of enrolling. The tuition amount is typically charged within 72 hours of enrollment. A $150 tuition discount is applied for participants who opt to pay in full.

Payment Plans: Program participants can also pay for tuition in zero-interest monthly payments. These payment plans allow participants to pay in evenly-distributed payments over an agreed period of time. LI’s payment plans are not a loan from a financial institution or bank but do require the completion of a repayment agreement. Three, six, nine, and twelve-month payment plans are available. Participants can opt to pay the entirety of their remaining tuition balance off at any point during the payment period. Additional discounts are available for certain payment plans (see below).

Payment Discounts

Pay in full: Receive an additional $150 off the program tuition
3-Month Payment Plan: Receive an additional $75 off the program tuition
6-Month Payment Plan: Receive an additional $50 off the program tuition
9 or 12-Month Payment Plan: No additional discount

Once enrolled, the student will have immediate access to one year of Testive SAT or ACT training, college application, essay editing and access to our mentorship program is made available within three business days.

Scholarships

As a 501(c)3 Non-profit all Leadership Initiatives programs are heavily subsidized by our sponsors allowing us to offer programs with academic benefits at a lower cost than for-profit institutions who do not offer them.

For our 2024 Youth Development Programs, we received additional funding opportunities from our sponsors, which include Microsoft’s Youthspark program, the Starbucks Foundation, GlobalGiving, the International Youth Foundation, Testive, and the Future First Foundation.

We have over $500,000 in grant money to put towards scholarship assistance for students across the nation.

This scholarship assistance will be given in the form of $500.00 Future Leaders Mentorship Scholarships. We currently have 300 Future Leader Mentorship Scholarships available on a first-come basis. These scholarships have been divided amongst our six development programs.

If you are interested in claiming one of these scholarships please register today so we can apply it towards your cost of tuition immediately.

Please Note Our Scholarships Do Not Stack. This means you cannot receive more than one scholarship to attend our summer programs.

Our Programs

Student safety and supervision is our number one priority at Leadership Initiatives, and we maintain a uniquely low student-to-staff ratio of five-to-one, which not only allows more individualized time but also a far more manageable cohort. Our trained staff ensure that students are accounted for at all times through multiple check-ins throughout the day. Students are required to attend all group activities and seminars.

Gaining independence, including experiencing new things on your own, is an essential part of your growth during the program. So, your parents or guardians are not allowed to accompany you. However, it is perfectly fine for your family to travel with you to the program location and stay in the area while you are attending the program.

It is the decided opinion of Leadership Initiatives that all current students behave in a manner befitting a mature and responsible citizen. These include traits such as honesty, fairness, integrity, personal responsibility, being trustworthy, and having respect for others. Members of the learning community will be expected to abide by this code of conduct as a commitment to serve as responsible stewards of not only Leadership Initiatives but their community and country respectively. Leadership Initiatives reserves the right to remove any student that does not demonstrate these qualities.

YDP Dress Code Policy

We believe our students should dress for their potential and in preparation for the types of activities they will be experiencing. Because the slate of LI YDP’s activities carries with it many unique opportunities to powerfully shape the future of our students, we want to make sure students dress the part.

Due to the nature of virtual programs, we ask that all students appear in professional attire anytime they are in front of the camera.

Professional attire means suits, sport coats/jackets, slacks/dress pants, skirts or dresses that are coordinated and at least fingertip length when arms are at sides, blouses, sweaters, ties, etc. Shoulders should be covered. If there is any doubt whether or not your outfit makes the cut, you should probably change your outfit.

Semi-professional attire includes much of the above-mentioned clothing with the addition of khaki pants, polo/golf shirts, button-down shirts, blouses, and sweaters. Shoulders should be covered at all times.

Casual dress includes khaki/golf shorts, jeans in good condition (no rips or tears), sweatshirts, t-shirts, sneakers, sandals, capri pants, and skirts. Shoulders should remain covered at all times.